Bertolucci on Sinner: "Italy has always had good players, but all that was missing was the diamond in the rough".

Jannik Sinner starts the year as world number 1 and the man to beat at the Australian Open.

Defending champion in Melbourne, the Italian began his excellent 2024 season with a first Grand Slam title against Daniil Medvedev.

Ahead of his first official match of the season against Nicolas Jarry in the next few days, Sinner continues to receive rave reviews from tennis observers.

Paolo Bertolucci spoke highly of the 23-year-old in an interview with Ticinonline.

"In fact, Italy has always had good players, but all that was missing was the diamond in the rough, the jewel capable of lighting up the whole movement.

The groundwork was always there, but it often worked in cycles. Now we've got Jannik and a lot of other great guys behind him.

The historic Italian champions are brilliant, they're artists, which is not the case with Sinner.

A typical Italian champion might be Valentino Rossi or Alberto Tomba. Jannik is not like that: he has less flair, but he has a remarkable state of mind.

He's dedicated to his work, in addition to his technical and physical skills. That's how he got to where he is right now.

As far as tennis is concerned, the evolution of physics, equipment, training methods and nutrition means that the new generation is better prepared than its predecessors.

The 1.90 m players have always been there. Now, however, they're agile and quick. In the past, they were clumsy. They were just big and maybe powerful.

As far as Sinner is concerned, Casper Ruud, who is a top-10 player, said after the ATP Finals in Turin: 'With Djokovic, I play and lose, with Sinner, I can't even play'," assured the 73-year-old former world number 12.